History of Wimbledon Common Golf Club

HISTORY

The Club was founded in 1908 and was originally called Wimbledon Town Golf Club. Golf has been played on the Common since 1865, when the Lord of the Manor of Wimbledon, Earl Spencer, gave officers of the London Scottish Rifle Regiment permission to construct a golf course. In 1871, after the earl had tried to seal off the land for his own private use, the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act was passed in Parliament and control of the Common was vested in a body of eight Conservators.

On 20th February 1908 at the Wimbledon Hill Hotel (now The Dog and Fox pub), a small group of local residents under the chairmanship of MV Ely agreed to form The Wimbledon Town Golf Club to play golf on the Common. Shortly after the first General Meeting of the Club, the local Member of Parliament, The Rt. Hon. Henry Chaplin became the first Club President. Membership levels were set at 100 residents of Wimbledon at a rate of one guinea per annum, and the club colours to be the obligatory pillar-box red coat with green facings and cuffs. In 1910 the maximum membership level was increased to 250. In 1919 the South London Golf Club amalgamated with Wimbledon Town GC, Prior to that, the South London GC had played on various Commons (Clapham, Streatham and Tooting) but the Conservators would not accord it official recognition to play on Wimbledon Common. The two clubs merged to form the Wimbledon and South London Golf Club, with SLGC bringing 35 members, a small amount of cash, and two cups still played for today - the South London Cup and the Finlayson Cup. In 1928 the Club was once again renamed, as the Wimbledon Common Golf Club.

GOLF ON THE COMMON

The course on the Common, which we share with the London Scottish Golf Club, is one of the oldest in England. In 1865 Earl Spencer gave permission to the London Scottish Rifle Volunteers to construct seven golf holes. Tom Dunn, the first Professional at LSGC, laid out 18 holes.

YOUNG WILLIE DUNN

The photo right is believed to have been taken in North Berwick probably sometime around 1885. (Seated left to right: Willie Dunn Jr. and Tom Dunn. Standing: Charles Gibson) Both Willie Dunn Jr. and Charles Gibson apprenticed with Willie's older brother Tom. Willie's first professional appointment was to Westward Ho! in 1886.
"Young" Willie Dunn learned his golf on the Common, and went on to win the first United States Open in 1894.

(Thanks to C Gibson & Co. for reproduction of print and information)

ASSOCIATES

The National Rifle Association had ranges on the Common before moving to Bisley, and some of the holes take their names from that time (Running Deer & Long Butt).
The picture is of the Wimbledon Prize Meeting: Rifle Match between the Lords and the Commons. Print dated 1862

Sir Hope Grant and Lord Elcho, both prominent members of the London Scottish Regiment,have holes named after them. Other holes derive their name from features relating to the Roman encampment on the Common (Caesars Well & Caesars Camp). Permission is received from the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators to play golf over the common but there are certain restrictions.